Broken Nightmare

Chapter 4

  "Claire!" I screamed from Liam's arms. I protested and cried out for her, but Liam still held me in his rock grasp.

"Liam! I have to get in there! Claire is still there and I need to find her! Please!" I screamed at Liam, who still hasn't moved.

"Elana, the firemen will get her. It's their job. Leave it. Maybe she's already out, but you just haven't seen her yet."

"No! You don't get it! If I don't help her, she's going to die! I had a dream about this!"

I turned back to face Liam and I saw his face twist in confusion until it turned into understanding. He seemed uncertain now and glanced anxiously from the school to me. After what seemed like forever, he made up his mind. "Okay, but I'm going with you. I don't want you to get hurt in there. If anything goes wrong, we will leave, okay?" I nodded and he let me from his grasp.

I knew that something was going to go wrong. Heck, everything is going to go wrong. I couldn't leave when it happened, either, and there was no way I was going to let Liam go in there and get himself hurt. There was only one solution. "Sorry". Liam's face flashed in confusion until I brought my fist to his temple, striking a pressure point. I whispered another apology and ran over to where the blazing school was.

I sprinted into the on-going traffic and hazardously dodged cars and people on the way. I could hear the fire sirens in the background and picked up my pace to beat them into the building. There was no way they would let me in if they had a chance.

I reached the front doors as fire exploded through them. The heat smashed into my face and I stumbled back to catch my concentration. I caught my train of thought and barged through the holes in the doors circled with black from the fire. I felt the flames licking my legs and feet as I stumbled down the hallway and black, thick, oily smoke invaded my lungs, scratching them and making me choke. The distance to the cafeteria seemed much larger with flames reaching out to me from everywhere. I found it ironic that I wished many times for the school to burn down, and now it was happening, all I wanted was for it to stop.

Claire was where she was in my dream, so I didn't have to search too hard to find her. She was still smack in the middle of the cafeteria, unmoving. I tried to reach her as some building terrain smashed in front of me to block my path. This did not happen in my dream until later. I tried screaming her name, but she was still in shock. I knew any second the firemen would come in and get me, but if they wouldn't get to Claire in time; she will be gone.

I took a step towards the cafeteria where Claire was when a board from the wall collapsed. I tried to dodge it, but while lunging out of the board's way, it landed on my calf and knocked me down to the ground. I felt what fire was on it burn through my jeans, but the flames never reached my leg. I tried to squirm from under the board, but it just seemed to get heavier. I tried to draw in a breath so I could try to push the board, but I just inhaled smoke and ended up in a coughing fit. "Help! Please, help!" I struggled to scream, but there was nobody around. Mustering all the strength I had left, I twisted my body uncomfortably to push the board off my leg. Strangely, when I saw the board, it was still flaming uncontrollably.

The flames never even heated my leg. While I tried to comprehend the phenomenon, a man appeared. I let out a sigh of relief at seeing my brother come to help me, but then a shot of fear trickled down my spine at the realization that Liam was in danger. "Hold on!" He yelled at me in a deep voice. That's not Liam . . .

He appeared to me in the matter of a few minutes and immediately went to work on the board over me. His eyes urgently searched for a spot that wasn't covered in flames, and when he discovered it, his hands shot out to lift it. It's either I'm really weak or I was hallucinating, but he lifted it off of me in the matter of seconds and threw it to the side. "Can you walk?" He asked me.